It’s Christmas time at a local market, and we’ve been busy sharpening knives! A customer brought us a set of three matching Asian cleavers/fish knives, and while working on them we noticed some interesting details from previous sharpening jobs that we thought would be worth discussing.

Here in Taiwan, many sharpeners commonly use stone wheels or sandpaper flap wheels. While these methods can certainly produce a usable edge, the final sharpness, finish, and overall appearance can vary quite a bit. On this knife in particular, the stone wheel drifted slightly during sharpening, leaving uneven grind lines across the blade. You can also clearly see the long, deep scratches created by the flap wheels.

 

The original edge bevel on this knife was already very thin, so rather than aggressively removing material, we chose to lightly clean things up by thinning the blade just a bit. Using a 120 grit belt, we held the knife approximately 1/4″ off flat against the grinder. This created a bevel of roughly 5mm (about 1/4″), which was enough to improve the geometry without extending anywhere near the 1″ tall grind marks left behind from the earlier stone wheel and flap wheel work.

One thing we often talk about is the common belief that knives always need extensive thinning. In reality, many knives only require a modest amount of thinning to perform well. Going too far is not always beneficial.

 

This knife is also made from laminated steel construction, meaning there is a hard high-carbon core steel sandwiched between softer outer cladding layers. On many laminated knives, the outer cladding is a softer stainless steel. When thinning these blades aggressively, that softer stainless can quickly load up stones and belts, making sharpening less efficient. Additionally, grinding too far back and exposing too much of the core steel can reduce the overall support and stability behind the edge.

For this reason, we feel that moderate thinning is often the better approach rather than removing excessive material. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this style of thinning and sharpening. Let us know what you think!

Jende Industries is a global company dedicated to sharpening, sharpening tools, and edge maintenance solutions. We proudly create products such as Jende Reed Knives, Jende Nanocloth Strops, Jende Diamond Emulsions, and Jende Leather Knife Rolls. In addition, we manufacture and supply custom-cut sharpening stones designed for many popular guided sharpening systems including Jende JIGS for Knives, Hapstone, Edge Pro, TSProf, KME Sharpeners, and Wicked Edge.

Whether you’re a musician, professional chef, outdoors enthusiast, or sharpening hobbyist, Jende offers products and tools suited for every skill level. Be sure to visit the official Jende Industries YouTube channel to explore detailed product demonstrations, sharpening tutorials, and showcases of our sharpening services and gear.